Frank Haertlein
Moderator
Rich, Administrators;
I appreciate your concern about the posts you are questioning.
I would like to say this.........
The wisdom and understanding of the world around us comes from somewhere. In deep space there is a vacuum because there is no surrounding matter. Ideas, arguments, thoughts, suggestions....in short, the flow of information gives "life" to what may otherwise be a vacuous condition. Our lives are enriched by the flow of information.... ideas, suggestions, thoughts, etc. We all are not always going to agree. As moderators you have charged yourselves with the responsibility of administering this board with your own set of goals. No doubt your goal is make TFL go its course in your image. I have not seen a mission statement so I am left to assume there is some profit motive in seeing TFL grow. That is not a bad thing as I would probably do likewise.
In the interests of furthering the pro gun cause, I would ask "who is to judge what is in its best interest"? What I mean by that is this.......... We do not live in deep space, there is no vacuum here. We are surrounded by ideas and the people who carry them. Do we let events take their course or do we "intervene" in some way? Granted, these are not easy questions to answer.
Let the ideas prosper. Let them take their course. They will enrich all who may come accross them as understanding will arise from their expression. To take any other course is like taking the course of the media who have determined for us what direction society may take. This is dangerous and damaging to human progression. (let's not fool with mother nature, so to speak) We must let events take their course without our intervention with preconcieved ideas as to how things should be. People are smarter than most give them credit for. We are able to reason and judge to our own personal degrees. We cannot hope to arrive at some desired outcome by narrowing our focus or attempting to direct the course of events in the direction we have deemed necessary. We must "let the process continue" in the interests of learning, in the interests of our common goals (freedom).
If this has failed to persuade you one way or another, then allow me to relate some experiences that have caused the decline or failure of some other BBS's that I have been part of (I started out on the net when you still had to use a "gopher"). In one case, the individual charged with administering the site eventually banned all discussion with a political bent on his hunting related BBS. Outwordly, this seemed to be the right course. But, and this is a big "BUT", he failed to realize that these political discussions were either directly or indirectly related to his continued enjoyment of the right to hunt. All I see now on his site is a very narrow, focused discussion with a concomitant decline in his "viewership". He has inadvertantly caused many people to become dis-interested in his site due to his narrow focus and thus caused many of them to seek out other alternatives in expressing their views. His hit counter has flattened out.
Many discussions related to firearms ownership "progress" to different subject material as the people posting see some kind of "link" to their continued right to own firearms embedded in that subject. The firearms issue is not a narrow one and must be addressed in a broader social context. We do ourselves a dis-service by "narrowing" our focus to the point where people then seek out other venues. The firearms issue is narrow enough as it is and we need to address it it a broader context so that it may "take its course". Our "understanding" will be the benefactor, our "strenght of argument" will prosper. Let those with an axe to grind have their say, we become the richer for it.
I appreciate your concern about the posts you are questioning.
I would like to say this.........
The wisdom and understanding of the world around us comes from somewhere. In deep space there is a vacuum because there is no surrounding matter. Ideas, arguments, thoughts, suggestions....in short, the flow of information gives "life" to what may otherwise be a vacuous condition. Our lives are enriched by the flow of information.... ideas, suggestions, thoughts, etc. We all are not always going to agree. As moderators you have charged yourselves with the responsibility of administering this board with your own set of goals. No doubt your goal is make TFL go its course in your image. I have not seen a mission statement so I am left to assume there is some profit motive in seeing TFL grow. That is not a bad thing as I would probably do likewise.
In the interests of furthering the pro gun cause, I would ask "who is to judge what is in its best interest"? What I mean by that is this.......... We do not live in deep space, there is no vacuum here. We are surrounded by ideas and the people who carry them. Do we let events take their course or do we "intervene" in some way? Granted, these are not easy questions to answer.
Let the ideas prosper. Let them take their course. They will enrich all who may come accross them as understanding will arise from their expression. To take any other course is like taking the course of the media who have determined for us what direction society may take. This is dangerous and damaging to human progression. (let's not fool with mother nature, so to speak) We must let events take their course without our intervention with preconcieved ideas as to how things should be. People are smarter than most give them credit for. We are able to reason and judge to our own personal degrees. We cannot hope to arrive at some desired outcome by narrowing our focus or attempting to direct the course of events in the direction we have deemed necessary. We must "let the process continue" in the interests of learning, in the interests of our common goals (freedom).
If this has failed to persuade you one way or another, then allow me to relate some experiences that have caused the decline or failure of some other BBS's that I have been part of (I started out on the net when you still had to use a "gopher"). In one case, the individual charged with administering the site eventually banned all discussion with a political bent on his hunting related BBS. Outwordly, this seemed to be the right course. But, and this is a big "BUT", he failed to realize that these political discussions were either directly or indirectly related to his continued enjoyment of the right to hunt. All I see now on his site is a very narrow, focused discussion with a concomitant decline in his "viewership". He has inadvertantly caused many people to become dis-interested in his site due to his narrow focus and thus caused many of them to seek out other alternatives in expressing their views. His hit counter has flattened out.
Many discussions related to firearms ownership "progress" to different subject material as the people posting see some kind of "link" to their continued right to own firearms embedded in that subject. The firearms issue is not a narrow one and must be addressed in a broader social context. We do ourselves a dis-service by "narrowing" our focus to the point where people then seek out other venues. The firearms issue is narrow enough as it is and we need to address it it a broader context so that it may "take its course". Our "understanding" will be the benefactor, our "strenght of argument" will prosper. Let those with an axe to grind have their say, we become the richer for it.
)
]. It will probably also be seen as more courteous by the posters. And when this happens, let's quit beating on the moderators - they're volunteers, doing the best they can. Go elsewhere if you want to fall on your sword.